Amber
by KayBeth13
Summary: Life likes to throw curve balls sometimes. Amber Munroe's life is pretty average, until someone kidnaps and tries to kill her to get revenge on one Barney Ross. The only problem? Barney has no idea who she is when he is sent to collect her, so how is he supposed to accept she's his daughter? Rating may change.
1. Grief

_Hi everyone! So, I have a new obsession in my life in the form of the expendables. My friend persuaded me to watch it after I had spent years persuading myself I would hate it and boom- I have a new favourite that's given me a massive boost in my writing and has momentarily cured me of my writer's block! So far I have 16 chapters written for this story, and have about another 20 or so to go. This is set immediately after Expendables 2 (as in the night they return from their job in Albania). I hope you enjoy and please leave nice reviews! If the review is really nice, I might even send you a sneak preview of the next chapter ;)_

_..._

If there was one thing Barney Ross would never admit to anyone including himself, it was that deep down in his 'black heart' as Lee Christmas so regularly voiced, he cared. He cared about the lives of his teammates, he cared that people saw him as a leader, and he cared most when someone close to him died.

Billy the kid's death had impacted all of them, but the others never saw the sorrow that sat on their boss's shoulders, never realised the pain he held so close to his heart as he let yet another member of him team down. The only person who understood the weight of his grief was currently inking up his latest twenty-something year old conquest, but the artist's deep hazel eyes never strayed from the mercenary, concern causing the corners of his mouth to pull into a deep frown. It wasn't uncommon for Barney to turn up unannounced, but it was unusual for him to turn up unannounced and sit quietly in a corner. Taking a moment to pull on his pipe, Tool blew out the smoke and watched nonchalantly as the tendrils curled and danced around him, the site almost magical. He patted the woman in front of him on the shoulder, motioning silently for her to leave and she responded with a sultry smile, sliding off the chair and moving out of the room with a butt wiggle that would normally have Tool drooling after her, but his attention was too focused on the other occupant in the room to really take notice. Standing, he cracked his back before sidling over and sitting down on the chair next to Barney.

"Wanna talk about it?" he asked.

A shake of Barney's dark head. No words needed to be said. Tool understood that. Sometimes, you just needed to figure it out alone without necessarily being alone, which is why instead of leaving the other man to his thoughts as he usually would, he simply begin humming to himself as he turned his attention to a few half-finished sketches of his latest design ideas. They stayed that way through the night until finally, as the sun's rays began to peek in through the shutters, Barney sighed and pushed off the stool he'd been sat in. He paused only to pat his old friend on the shoulder in thanks, receiving a simple nod in reply. The room filled with the roar of Barney's bike and Tool could only watch, his eyes finally betraying his worry as he stared at the fading silhouette of his friend.

Tool knew the signs and could read people more than anyone gave him credit for. He could see how much the leader of the expendables was holding back and he knew that it wouldn't be too much longer before the guy snapped and either went on a murderous rampage, or simply gave up his life for some peace. He knew the mercenary just needed to vent, but that was a mission in itself that no doubt would be a one way trip for the sucker who tried to break through the shell of Barney Ross.

Tool let out a deep sigh, swinging himself off his chair. He was getting too old for this shit.

…

Barney returned to a dark and empty house thirty minutes after leaving Tool's. Something in him relaxed as he took in the sight of the old farmhouse he'd paid a bomb for, and as he pulled his bike into the garage, he finally let his shoulders slump, exhaustion finally slamming in to him. He didn't bother with the lights; he simply walked to his room and collapsed on his bed, sighing into his pillow as he sank into a deep, yet fitful, sleep. He woke to his phone beeping in his pocket. Groaning, he shifted to pull it out of his pocket, glaring at the unknown number flashing on the screen.

"How the hell did you get my number Church?" he growled, instinct telling him the bald man was the only one stupid enough to call him so soon after a job.

"Good morning to you too sunshine."

Barney glanced at his clock, his face darkening to see he'd had barely three hours sleep.

"Cut the niceties. Tell me what you want so I can get some sleep."

"You're so touchy when you wake up! I have a job for you"

Barney's face turned from pissed, to tired in an instant, transforming him from a blood thirsty mercenary to an exhausted, run down man who just wanted some sleep.

"No. I just got back from my last job last night. Both myself and my team need to recover."

The silence that followed made him want to hang up and throw the phone out of the window, but something stirred deep within him, forcing him to keep the device pressed against his ear. Finally, Church spoke again, his voice sounding tired, the earlier cheerfulness vanished.

"I need the best for this one Ross. One of my employees has disappeared from her home, and the people who have her are ruthless. I need someone to find them and get her back to American soil."

Barney sat up straighter, but his mind still told him not to take the job and at that moment, he was in agreement with his mind, even if there was another part, the tiny part that cared, that didn't like the idea of a defenceless woman being held captive. Shoving that part of his mind down, he finally replied.

"As I said, we just got back. Find someone else."

Not giving Church the chance to respond, he simply ended the call then lay back down. Sleep claimed him within thirty seconds. When he woke again, it was to the sounds of someone shuffling around downstairs. Silently, he slid out of bed, drawing his gun out from under his mattress. With ease, he padded down the hallway and peered over the railing, able to make out the shape of a male moving through his kitchen. Taking aim, he began to squeeze the trigger.


	2. Briefing

_Hi Guys, so I've been asked if I will update every day- the answer to that is no as I am in my final year at university and barely have time to breathe, let alone edit and update chapters every day. I do hope to update every 2-3 days though. Also, if I send you a preview of the next chapter, it will be sent the day before I update, so at least then you'll get an idea of when I will be about to update! _

_Thank you to Tilliraen and Mone123 for your reviews- I hope you guys enjoyed your sneak preview!_

_..._

"Can I at least get a beer before you shoot me?"

Barney let out a groan and switched the safety back on as he watched his visitor open the fridge and pull out two beers.

"Why are you here, Lee?" he asked as he caught the bottle the younger man threw him.

"I got a call from a guy called Church, about a job involving a kidnapping"

Barney wanted to growl. Instead, he scowled at the wall as he moved to his couch, sitting on the one opposite the Brit who was playing with one of his knives, sipping on his beer. Lee saw the look on his face and raised an eyebrow.

"Let me guess, he already called you, you turned it down and so he called me?"

Barney took a long swig of beer before responding.

"Yeah, I told him we needed to recover from our last job."

Lee shrugged, beer left forgotten as he surveyed his boss.

"None of us got too banged up. Yeah, we lost Billy, but we've lost people before and carried on. Why have you really turned it down?" he asked.

Barney fell silent and for a moment, Lee thought he wasn't going to get a response, so when the answer did come, he was more than a little surprised.

"It's the truth. We need to rest up for a few days. Besides, there are plenty of other guys out there that can go get her."

Lee's eyes widened.

"That's bullshit and you know it. Why do you really not want to take the job?" he prodded.

Barney placed his beer down, suddenly not in the mood to drink it.

"Why do you _want_ to take it so much?" he questioned.

Lee's eyes darkened and Barney instantly regretted his anger.

"You know why" the Brit said, his voice laced with years-old emotion.

Yeah, he did, and he felt like a bastard for bringing it to the front of Lee's mind. Any job requiring the rescue of a woman was one Lee always jumped at, and Barney always made sure Lee was the one to carry the female out and return her to her loved ones, a silent acknowledgement that the man needed to do it to try and quell the guilt after being unable to save his baby sister when the same happened to her. That was why he wanted the job so much. Barney stood and pulled out his phone, not failing to notice the look of gratitude in Lee's eyes as he made the call to meet with Church.

…

The rest of the guys were not as agreeable as Lee when they gathered at Tool's that evening.

"What the hell, we only got back yesterday! I haven't even seen my kids yet!" Caesar yelled.

Barney nodded, knowing that they weren't going to be too happy.

"I know, which is why I'm leaving it up to you guys to decide if you want to come or not. We don't have time to do proper recon, so you only have a few hours to make up your mind. If you choose to come, I need you to be at the hangar at 04:00 tomorrow."

"Where is the job?" Toll piped up from the back of the room.

"Iceland" was the simple one-worded reply he received.

Barney turned and walked away, leaving the others watching his back with various looks of annoyance and disbelief etched across their faces.

…

It didn't surprise Barney to find Lee already at the hangar the next morning, loading the plane with the supplies they would need for the rescue. He knew the younger man probably hadn't even gone to bed since they spoke the evening before. The men wordlessly greeted each other with nods of their heads and Lee returned to loading up, while Barney turned his gaze to the hangar door as it creaked open to reveal Gunner. The Swede made his way over to them and gave Barney a quick salute.

"Morning boss."

Barney couldn't help but smirk in amusement. Ever since getting clean, Gunner's lighter side had made a reappearance and Barney had to admit, he'd missed the giant's sense of humour when he lost it temporarily to the drugs.

"Is anyone else coming?" he asked.

Gunner frowned in thought then finally shook his head.

"Don't think so. Caesar and Toll went to see their families and I'm pretty sure Yang mentioned something about Vegas."

Barney raised an eyebrow. Caesar and Toll, he wasn't surprised about, but yang?

"Vegas?"

The giant snorted, his eyes glinting with mirth.

"Yeah, said he'd never been, wanted to know what the fuss is about. I have a bet with Tool that he's gonna bankrupt himself in the first day and come home with his tail between his legs"

Barney rolled his eyes, though part of him was tempted to join in on the bet. The Chinese man may have honour and be spiritual, but was shockingly bad with gambling his money, as had been proven many times over games of poker at Tool's. He was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of a car entering the hangar, signalling the entrance of a very unpopular CIA agent. He made his way over to it as it pulled up next to the plane, Lee and Gunner falling behind him. He rolled his eyes when Church stepped out, the ever-present look of smugness on his face.

"Morning gentlemen. Let's get you guys briefed shall we? The subject you are rescuing is one Amber Munroe, age 24. She works as my P.A and as a result, knows a lot of passwords and codes to a number of high security databases and programmes. In a nutshell, if the guys holding her want those codes and break her down, the country we all know and love would be looking at one hell of a political mess. She has very minimum military training, a requirement of her job, but she's not been trained to survive these kinds of situations like we all have, and I don't know how long she can hold out. That's why I called you to get her."

The three expendables listened to his breakdown, each one forming their own thoughts and plans on the job. It was Lee who spoke first.

"How long have they had her?" he asked.

"Three days. We believe they took her Friday as there is surveillance footage of her entering her apartment after she finished work, but nothing after that. She had the weekend free, so it was only noticed she had gone on Monday morning when she failed to turn up to work and we knocked down her door to find her gone and her boyfriend dead."

Lee nodded, understanding more than anyone the importance of getting her out as soon as possible, as well as sympathising with the woman as she may not yet know of her boyfriend's fate. Church watched the three men in front of him with a critical gaze, then handed Barney a file.

"You'll find information on the group holding her in here. As you know, their base is in Iceland, so I'd wrap up warm if I were you."

Barney took the file and nodded.

"Any other questions?" Church asked.

They all shook their heads negative.

"Good. All you need to know about her is in the file. Now, if you don't mind, I have a meeting to get to. Oh and one more thing. Try to bring her back alive if possible, she'd one of the few people I can tolerate working for me and it'd be a shame to lose her."

None of them watched him go, their attention on the file in Ross's hands.

"What the hell kind of file doesn't have a photo of the person we're rescuing?" Gunner complained as he read over the sheet with the woman's details. "I mean, come on, how many thousands of woman in Iceland are 5 feet 3 with blonde hair and blue eyes? That's like looking for someone in Mexico with brown hair and eyes and speaks Spanish!"

Barney was beyond frustrated with Church and agreed completely with the Swede's statement. The description of her was less than ideal, though he had to think that it was likely she would be the only woman the group had. If she wasn't the only woman, the only thing that would make them able to easily identify her was the note that she had a scar on her left shoulder blade. Not the most distinguishable feature, but they would have to make do with what they had. He turned his attention to the photo in front of him, eyes narrowing in recognition. The leader of the group that had taken her, it turned out, was an old 'friend' of his. The last time they met, Barney had almost shot the guy, but instead took pity on him and let him free to straighten himself out. Clearly he hadn't and this time, Barney was going to show him no mercy.

"Wheels up in 10" he said as he passed the file to Lee.


	3. Rescues and Reveals

_Hey guys, thanks for the follows and favourites and thanks to Tilliraen and angel897 for your reviews! Enjoy this next instalment!_

...

They arrived in Reykjavik seven hours later and the first thing to greet them as they stepped off the plane was a blast of icy air. Gunner smiled and stretched his arms out to welcome the cold that his Scandinavian blood cherished, while Lee swore and wrapped his jacket tighter around him, moaning as he took in the snow around them. Barney simply rolled his eyes, though he had to admit, it was _freezing_, and his Italian blood was not impressed. They were met on the tarmac by their contact, a short and slightly overweight man with grey hair and dark brown eyes. He gave them a smile and extended his hand out, which Barney took.

"Nice to meet you. My name's Einar."

"I'm Barney Ross, the giant is Gunner Jensen and the bald guy is Lee Christmas" Barney replied.

Lee scowled and Gunner laughed at the shorter man's indignant expression.

"Shut up Frankenstein" he growled back.

Gunner's lip curled and he took a step forward. He would have hit out if it wasn't for Barney's hand grabbing his arm, the older man's brown eyes giving him a silent warning. With a huff, Gunner dropped his hand and marched back on to the plane to find anything to do to calm down. Barney turned back to their contact, who looked more than a little nervous of the two men. Barney rolled his eyes, ignoring the pair behind him as they began bickering on the plane.

"Ignore them, they have issues. So, where are we headed?" he asked, eager to get there and find the woman they were rescuing.

"The site is 6 miles south from here. Would you like to go there now or would you like to rest for a while?" Einar replied.

Glancing over at Lee and Gunner to see them both wide awake and alert, he made the decision to go to the site and do some recon. It took less than fifteen minutes to reach the site, and Barney couldn't help but agree when Lee commented that it seemed a bit too close to the plane for comfort. Still, there wasn't anything they could do about it unless he landed the plane in the middle of nowhere, which in any country was pretty much illegal.

Einar dropped then off a few meters from the site and they decided it best to split up. Barney found himself lying on the ground a way up from one of the buildings after spotting a hill just behind where he could easily see without himself being seen.

"Nothing here" Christmas's voice buzzed in his ear.

"Nor here" came Gunner's seconds later.

Barney wanted to shoot something in frustration as he swept his goggles over the building once more, only to find no women or no people in his vision.

"I don't have anyth…wait. I have her"

As he took one last look, he saw the shape of a woman being dragged between two men into a room, where she was dropped on to the floor. From what he could see, she looked to have been drugged, her movements sluggish. He watched the two men walk away and sent a silent thanks to whoever controlled fate that day. At least they knew where she was being held now.

"She's on the second floor, third room to the left. I say we come back tonight and get her."

After receiving acknowledgements from his team mates, he hastily left his perch and met them at the rendezvous point. Moments later, Einar arrived to collect them and they headed back to the plane to organise themselves for the night ahead.

…

"Okay, so there looks to be around 50 guards in and around the place and probably Perez himself" Barney spoke as they poured over the building blueprints in front of them.

"Are you sure he will be there?" Gunner asked, uncertainty in his gaze.

Barney nodded.

"Yeah. If he wants information from her, he will be there himself to ensure he gets it. I've faced this guy before. He was mentored by the drug dealer Vince Perez, his father. I killed his dad and let him go as he was just a kid. If he's anything like his dad, he'll be there."

Satisfied with the response, gunner turned back to his rifle, checking he had enough ammo. Barney gave the map one last overlook before copying the Swede's actions. He wanted to make sure he did this right. After all, he'd let Perez go once, and the guy had chosen the same life of crime as his father. He would NOT be repeating the mistake.

…

They crept up to the building using the cover of darkness and their black clothes to blend in as much as possible. The guards at the door were easy to take out as neither were exactly paying attention to their surroundings, too absorbed in the game of poker they were currently playing. As a result, neither of them noticed the shadow creep up behind them until they both fell to the floor, gurgling from the knives embedded in their necks.

"Easy" Lee mumbled, smirking when he heard Gunner's amused snort reply.

"Focus" Barney warned them, knowing too well that though the job seemed simple, their team had a nasty habit of jobs going unexpectedly haywire on them.

The three moved into the building, surprised to clear the first floor with no guards. The second floor was barely different. Only four guards stood watch outside the room where their captive was being held, and something didn't sit right in Barney's gut even as he took the last guy out. The feeling was proven right when Gunner slammed in to the room, only to find it empty.

"Fuck" the giant cursed as he realised the woman was nowhere to be seen.

Lee pulled out his infrared goggles and quickly donned them. Looking up, he saw a number of heat signatures above them.

"I think they've moved her. We need to head up a floor, there's a load of guys up there".

Barney nodded and led them down the corridor. They barely made it halfway up the next set of stairs when the space erupted in gunshots, the three men diving out of the way, wasting no time shooting back. Gunner reached in to his pocket and pulled out a grenade. He threw it as far up the stairs he could and couldn't help but let out a triumphant laugh when the resulting explosion send four bodies flying down the steps. Barney rolled his eyes as he launched forwards, taking out another six men on the next floor. Lee dashed ahead, his knives flying silently through the air, taking down another group that had just entered the scene.

Finally, they reached the roof to see a helicopter touch down. The door opened and out stepped a tall Mexican. He looked over the group and their raised guns and gave them a smile full of the arrogance of a man with an ace to play up his sleeve.

"Long time no see, Mr Ross!" he called over the chopper as it powered down.

Barney glared at him, his gun unmoving from where it pointed.

"Where's the girl?" he called back.

Perez's smile only widened, his eyes shining gleefully as he rubbed his hands together.

"When I was but a boy Mr Ross, you killed my father. I vowed I would repay you for that and have spent these years building my empire to find you and kill you. It took years, but I knew I'd find your weak spot eventually" he responded.

Barney's eyebrows furred in confusion and a glance to his team mates told him they felt the same way.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

The smile fell slightly on Perez's face, anger flashing in his eyes at their apparent ignorance.

"I knew the moment you knew we had the girl you would come running to save her."

If anything, Barney felt more confused than he had seconds ago. Clearly, the Mexican believed that he knew the woman and had a personal connection with her. He almost groaned out loud when he made the realisation. The girl hadn't been taken for the information she knew, she had been taken because for some insane reason, Perez believed her to be connected to him and it would draw him out. The whole thing was to get him here. Next to him, Lee raised an eyebrow.

"Any idea what he's on about, Barney?" he asked.

"Yes and no. I killed his old man remember? He probably wants revenge for that, but I have no idea how the girl fits in." he replied.

"Maybe he thinks she's your relative" Gunner joked beside him.

"Shut up Gunner" Barney replied, his voice curt.

He turned his attention back to the Mexican, who watched them converse with a scowl on his face.

"So, you want revenge"? Barney asked him.

Perez snorted, his eyes darkening.

"You killed my father in front of me. It only seems fitting I take away something you cherish from you" He replied.

Barney grew even more confused, but also angry. He didn't have anyone close to him other than those on his team, and certainly nobody he cherished, so why the hell was this guy assuming the woman he held had any meaning to him?

"Want me to shoot him?" Gunner murmured, annoyance towards Perez evident in his tone.

Barney shook his head negative before speaking to Perez once more.

"I don't see how the woman fits in to this" he spoke honestly.

Perez let out a snort; did Ross really think him stupid?

"Don't play that game with me Ross. I did my research. I know you have a daughter, and it didn't take too long to figure out who, especially as she had your photograph in her home. After that, it was a matter of watching her for a while then taking her. I knew daddy dearest wouldn't be far behind, though you did take longer than I thought you would."

Barney took a deep breath to calm himself. He wanted to laugh at how wrong the guy was, however before he could act on the impulse, Perez pulled a file out of his suit pocket and threw it towards him. Motioning for Lee and Gunner to keep their rifles on the guy, Barney bent down and scooped it up. The first thing he came across was the employment record for one Amber Munroe, the woman being held hostage. The next sheet of paper was a DNA search that clearly showed the mother as one Marie Munroe, and the father as Barney Ross. Barney's eyes widened as he read the signature on the sheet that authorised the search: . He let out a growl as he dropped the file back on the floor, and Gunner let out a whistle as he glimpsed at it and realised that the guy was telling the truth.

"Well shit man, I was just kidding. What are the odds?"

"Gunner, shut the fuck up before I shoot you" Barney snapped.

"I believe the saying congratulations: it's a baby girl is in order?" Perez jibed, then snapped his fingers.

The door behind the group slammed open and they all glanced back to see a young woman being forcefully dragged out to the roof by a burly man. They could all see she was fighting against him, but he was just too strong and continued to drag her over to Perez. When she saw him, her eyes widened and she fought even harder to escape, screaming through the gag that had been put in her mouth. Her right eye was swollen and bruised, a large cut across her brow crusted with dried blood, and Barney noted she was walking with a limp. The man holding her threw her ungraciously to the floor and as her hands were tied in front of her, she was unable to stop herself from landing at Perez's feet. It was then that she looked up and noticed the men on the other side of the roof.

Ice blue eyes that reminded Barney of a wolf swept over the three men, and when they rested on Barney, they opened in clear shock and recognition. The impact of her eyes felt like a punch to Barney's gut and he fought not to gasp. He'd only ever known one person with eyes like that, and he'd left her almost 25 years ago. Even if he disbelieved everything else, those eyes gave away the identity of her mother and with her age, it left him with no doubt that the record was true; she was his own flesh and blood. If they weren't currently in the situation they were in, he probably would have fallen over. His life was about to get a whole lot more complicated.

Perez watched as father and daughter laid eyes on each other for the first time and gave a cruel smirk before reaching down and grasping the woman by her hair. She let out a muffled scream of pain as he pulled her up off the floor and wrapped an arm round her waist, pressing a gun against her temple. Barney's lip curled in anger as a tear slid down her cheek, her whole body trembling. Barney glared further when he realised she was barefoot, her only clothing a pair of sweatpants and a baggy T-shirt, providing no protection from the icy air whipping around her, turning her skin blue. Nobody spoke or moved for a few seconds, until Gunner noticed a movement from her.

"Barney, her hands" he whispered, lips barely moving.

Barney glanced down and saw that she seemed to be clenching and unclenching one of her hands, but when he looked closer, he realised she was signalling him.

_Shoot._

It was then he looked back at her face and saw that though she was terrified, there was a steel in her eyes that he'd missed before. At first, he assumed she was telling him to shoot Perez. Torn, he knew he could easily take him out, but was worried about the brute still standing next to her and what he would do to her, especially as he couldn't formulate any plan without Perez hearing. He locked gazes with the woman '_Amber'_ he told himself and saw that every time she squeezed her hand, she glanced towards the brute, not Perez. Understanding filled him and he nodded.

Before Perez could comprehend Barney's nod, a gunshot filled the air and his right hand man crumpled to the ground. In that same instance, an elbow was shoved into his stomach and he bent forward, dropping his gun as he fought for his breath. The moment he slumped, a pair of hands grasped his wrist and he felt himself being pulled forward, landing heavily on his back, looking up at the woman he'd been about to kill. She glared down at him, then reached up and tore the gag from her mouth before grasping the dropped gun and pointing it into his face.

"Next time, tie the person's hands behind their back, dipshit" she growled, her finger squeezing the trigger.


	4. Contemplation

_Hi guys! Sorry it's taken a couple of days longer to update, it's just been a hellish week at university and I've barely had time to breathe, let alone update! As a result, I haven't sent out previews this time, but I am thinking of uploading 2 chapters this weekend to make up for the delay!_

_Thanks to angel897 for your review! made me smile after a particularly horrible day!_

...

The gunshot that rang out saw the end of Perez. Blood splattered over the woman in front of him, the little droplets of crimson a stark contrast to the icy blue of her eyes. She blinked in surprise a few times before the shock began to kick in and she dropped her gun, her hands beginning to shake uncontrollably. She jumped as a hand landed on her shoulder, and she looked up to come face to thigh with what she could only describe as a giant of a man. He gave her a smile, his rugged face lighting up for a brief moment and she couldn't help but give a tiny, yet shaky, smile back. He crouched down next to her and gently raised her hands in front of him. She watched as he silently drew out a knife from his belt and sliced the rope holding her wrists together. Blood rushed to her fingers and she rubbed at the sore joints, sending him a grateful smile.

"Are you okay to stand?" he asked her.

She had no answer to that one, so slid her legs under her and pushed herself up off the floor with a groan as her joints protested against the movement. A sharp pain in her leg would have sent her back to the ground if the giant hadn't expected it and caught her in his waiting hands. He helped her stand and she leaned against him, slightly nervous at the fact she barely reached his shoulder at her full height.

"The name's Gunner" he said to her softly, as if afraid she would run away screaming from him if he spoke any louder.

She licked her parched lips to reply, however the taste of iron filled her mouth and her next move was to find herself bent over, emptying the little contents of her stomach on the ground. Gunner's arms stayed wrapped around her as her heaves eased off, his gaze straying over to their leader who was currently dragging the body of the henchman away. Lee caught the Swede's attention and threw over a bottle of water, which Gunner caught with a nod of gratitude. He handed the bottle to the woman, who swirled the liquid around her mouth, desperate to rid it of the taste of blood. She then threw some on her face, wiping away as much blood as she could, before guzzling down the remainder of the bottle, her body screaming for the hydration after days without it. Gunner rubbed up and down her back as she drank, flashing a frown at Barney as he was the one who should be helping her, especially after finding out she was his kid. Instead, he watched Barney move Perez's body away to place with the henchman before turning his attention to the building where Lee had disappeared to find and dispose of any remaining guards.

A small tug on Gunners arm made him look down to see the woman swaying on her feet, all colour gone from her face as she watched the two men head towards the building she'd been tortured and abused in. The world around her began to grow fuzzy and her senses began to blank out one by one as the world grew darker around her.

"Hey, short stuff, stay awake now, stay with me a bit longer" Gunner commanded loudly, though concern also laced his voice.

The tone of his voice caused Barney to spin around, just in time to watch Amber completely crumple into Gunner's arms, losing her battle to stay conscious from the ordeal she'd been through. motioning for Lee to go on ahead, Barney walked over to the pair and Gunner gave him a other frown.

"So, now you come over to see she's okay? After she'd unconscious?" he grumbled.

Barney's response was a glare before he turned his attention to the young woman. He brushed away some of the blood she'd missed on her face, noting the bruising around her eye and taking in how pallid her complexion had become. He shrugged off his jacket, his body immediately tensing at the onslaught of the cold wind around them, and gently wrapped it around her.

"Get in to the helicopter and start trying to warm her up. I'm gonna go get Lee"

"Why don't you do it?" Gunner asked.

"Because you are much bigger than me, so you will probably be able to warm more of her body than I can."

Gunner couldn't fault that logic, though he was still irritated when the older man walked away. He quickly scooped the woman up so he was carrying her in his arms and jumped in the helicopter with her, immediately wrapping himself around her as much as he could, rubbing her arms to try and warm her up. Barney jogged over to the entrance of the roof and was about to descent the stairs when Lee came back up them, clutching his arm.

"You hit?" Barney asked him.

"No, I thought it'd be fun to spray myself with fake blood! Of course I'm bloody well hit! On the plus side, all the goons have been taken care of, so we can get her home" he replied, motioning his head to the woman lying in Gunner's arms.

The trio made their way back to the plane, pausing for a break when Gunner's arms started to grow tired. Lee offered to carry her, but Barney halted him.

"You're hit and wouldn't be able to carry her for long anyway. I'll take her."

Surprised flashed across both Gunner and Lee's faces, but neither moved to stop Barney as he took her from Gunner. She shifted in his hold and he tightened his grip in fear that she would try rolling out of his grasp, however all she did was turn slightly, burying her head in his shoulder and falling into a deeper sleep. Something fluttered in Barney's chest at her display of trust and he only just stopped himself from smiling, although the other two didn't fail to notice the way his eyes softened. Einar met them at the hangar, a broad grin on his face to see the sleeping woman. He moved aside as Barney approached and took her in to the plane, a small part of him reluctant to let her go. He laid her down on one of the benches, and was about to call for some assistance when he noticed Gunner behind him, already pulling out various blankets to lay on the floor, Lee in another cupboard preparing an IV drip. Einar followed them on to the plane and Barney turned to face him, subtly placing himself between their contact and Amber. The younger man smiled to see that she was alive and extended his hand to Barney, which Barney grasped.

"Thank you for showing us where to go Einar."

"It is no worries. You tell Church that if he needs me again he just needs to call. Here is my number too, so if you need any help I'll do what I can."

With one last smile, Einar handed Barney a card with his contact details and vacated the plane. Barney turned his attention back to the others to see that Lee had laid the blankets on the second bench, ready to transfer Amber to it when the IV was in place. Gunner was currently crouched next to Amber, inserting the needle in to her arm. In her sleep, she frowned and tried to pull her arm away, a panicked gasp escaping her when Gunner held her steady. Remembering how sluggish she'd looked when they first scouted the building, Barney realised that Perez and his goons must have injected her with something, so for her, an injection meant something bad to come. With that in his mind, Barney moved over to her and placed his hand on her head, brushing away a few stray bangs from her eyes, a frown on his face when he realised fresh tears were slowly leaking from the corner of her eyes.

"It's okay, you're safe now." Gunner hushed, glad when she seemed to relax at the calmness in his voice and let him finish inserting the needle as Barney wiped away her tears.

"Done" the Swede proclaimed, then gently lifted her and moved her onto the other bench, covering her with the last blanket.

She immediately curled herself up into a ball and began shivering, but she didn't wake and the guys let out a collected sigh of relief. Gunner sat himself next to her and pulled her up so she was partially on his lap, his body warmth transferring to her. For good measure, Lee draped their coats over her to add another layer before moving to the cockpit to find Barney frowning at the floor.

"You okay boss?" he asked, for once feeling no urge to tease.

"I'm fine, but I don't want the others to know yet, you hear me? As far as they know, we extracted her and all is well." was the gruff response as Barney sat in his chair.

Lee and Gunner exchanged a look before Lee dropped into his usual seat beside Barney. As the plane engines started up, the woman in Gunner's arms let out a small whimper and Gunner tightened his arms round her. As they took to the sky, he began to look closely at her as she rested and noted that despite the fact her hair and eyes were different, she had many similarities to Barney, notably the shape of her mouth and eyes. As her skin began to turn to its normal colour, he found himself surprised to see that she wasn't fair skinned as would be expected for her hair and eyes; instead, her skin was the same tanned shade as her father, reflecting their Italian roots. The more he looked, the more he could see the Ross side of her genetics and the more he believed that the madman that took her was in fact telling the truth.

In the cockpit, Barney and Lee sat in silence for the first hour, but eventually, Lee decided to speak up. He felt just as confused as the rest of them and couldn't quite believe the twist in the jobs events. Although, there was a part of him that wasn't overly surprised. Every job the had from Church had a nasty habit of becoming more complex than the agent would let on. Still, of all the complexities he could imagine, this had to be the last thing he could have predicted.

"When you shot the big guy earlier, how did you know Perez wasn't going to kill her?" He asked Barney.

Barney shrugged, thinking back to the moment he saw the terrified, crying woman transform into a fighter, flipping Perez almost effortlessly over her shoulder in a display of strength and courage he certainly hadn't expected. It made him curious about her, especially about her abilities.

"I didn't, but we needed to do something and she was signalling to take him out, so I trusted she had a plan."

Lee pursed his lips in thought before responding.

"But how did you know she was going to be able to do it? Not that I'm complaining mind; I think she did a pretty good job, but what if it hadn't worked?"

"If it hadn't worked, then she'd be dead now. I saw in her employment record she was attending regular boxing and self defence classes, so I assumed she had a plan." Barney replied, his voice betraying no emotion but the thought of her dying unsettling his stomach slightly.

Lee listened to Barney and though there was nothing in his voice, the Brit knew that his boss would not have reacted well had she died. He glanced over his shoulder to see Gunner checking the IV bag, Amber still asleep next to him and gave a small smile. He meant what he said, he was impressed at how she handled Perez, but he could see that she had still been frightened by the whole ordeal and, as the bruises showed them, she'd been roughed up as well. He turned back to Barney, his expression solemn.

"How are you really feeling?" he asked his boss.

Barney sighed, knowing Lee wasn't going to drop the subject until he gave an honest answer.

"Honestly, I don't know. Three hours ago I was a bachelor with nothing and no-one and suddenly I'm a dad to a 24 year old. I don't know how I should be feeling right now, other than annoyed that I'm only now just finding out. I have a lot of questions but I don't want to ask them."

"Want my honest opinion?" he asked.

"Sure, go ahead."

"I think you just need to talk to her about everything. She may just surprise you. Worst comes to the worst, you can both walk away and never see each other again. I think she's going to end up a big part of your life though."

Barney raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? What makes you think that?"

"Did you see the look in her eyes when she first saw you? She not only knew who you were but she looked bloody hopeful. Plus, you're not the kind of guy to just walk away from her and leave her to it without finding out about her first."

The pair fell silent again and it didn't take long before Lee's breathing evened out as he drifted to sleep. Barney looked at the younger man in contemplation, his mind whirring at a thousand miles an hour as he tried to decide what to do. He wanted to get to know her and be in her life, but he knew that ultimately, it would end up with her getting hurt or killed. It would just be easier on everyone if he walked away now and never look back, so why was he sitting there trying to argue with himself?


	5. New Opportunities

_Hi guys! So, the next few chapters are focussing on Amber. Basically, I want you all to get to know Amber a bit more- see her personality and find out how she ended up working for Church in the first place (as you may have been wandering!). This is most likely the longest chapter in this story, but it is essential for the back story, so please bear with it!_

_Thank you again for your lovely reviews- I was unable to reply to them this time and didn't post 2 chapters last weekend, so I will do 3, yes, 3 this weekend to make up for it! Enjoy!_

_..._

_**One Year Ago**_

Amber pulled at her blazer for the fifth time since entering the office. She tried to tell herself she wasn't nervous, but any idiot could see she was. She had initially planned on going to college, but when her boyfriend of three years, Kyle, began to develop a gambling problem, those dreams were quickly sidelined by working three jobs to pay the rent. That was the only reason she was sitting here now. She had only applied for the job as a dare, not expecting anything to come from it, only to be floored when the email came the next day inviting her for an interview. This job paid more than her three other jobs combined and at least she'd have regular hours. The door opened and in stepped a tall, bald man. His his waistline was beginning to stretch out and his eyes showed his age around the edges, but Amber noted that he was still in pretty good shape for a guy she guessed was approaching 60. She stood to shake his hand and he offered her a warm smile.

"Miss Munroe, my name is Agent Church. I will be interviewing you, and should you succeed, I will be your boss"

"It's a pleasure to meet you" she responded, seating herself when he inclined his head to the chair.

He didn't reply, simply sat down and flipped open a file in front of him. She glanced down and saw that it seemed they'd done a background check on her. It didn't surprise her all that much though, this was the CIA, after all.

"I see here you haven't listed your father in your biographical details and he isn't listed on your birth certificate"

_Talk about being blunt_ she noted to herself at the same time as she responded.

"No sir, I don't know who my dad is. All I know is he left shortly before mom discovered she was pregnant and she opted not to include him on any paperwork."

"If you are accepted for this job, I will need a sample of your DNA so we can run it through a programme to determine who your father is. I'm afraid it's non negotiable. All our employees must come from clean backgrounds, and you will be no exception."

He found himself pleasantly surprised when she shrugged and gave him a look of indifference, although he didn't miss the glint of hope hidden in the icy depths of her mysteriously coloured pupils.

"That's fine. I've always wanted to find out myself anyway. I guess this is as good a chance as any to find him."

Church nodded, scribbling a note in his book. She'd passed his first test.

"I also see that your mother moved you around a lot, though her employment shows no reason for this decision. Why is that?"

He watched as she sucked in a deep breath and saw the pain in her face. He knew her mother had passed away suddenly the year previous and it would be hard for her to talk about her mother, but he needed the information. He was about to prompt her to answer when she replied.

"Honestly, I don't really know. I just know that we'd settle in a place and then around a year or so later, mom would tell me we had to move again. She never said why apart from one time when she was drunk she said 'they' would find her eventually. That's all I know"

"And do you think that is why she trained you in martial arts,military tactics and trained you to use firearms?" he asked.

Her hands clenched so tightly, he wouldn't be surprised if her nails broke the skin. When she failed to respond this time, he frowned.

"I need an answer, Miss Munroe."

She took a few deep breaths to steady herself before answering, though she felt like her throat was being squeezed with every syllable, each word a struggle to say.

"I don't have any licenses or anything like that, so I'm surprised you knew about the guns. All mom said is that she was military and it would make her more comfortable if her kid new how to fend for herself, especially as am female."

Church nodded, subtly ignoring her implied question about how they found her details. Test number 2 passed. He rose from his seat and pulled his jacket straight as he addressed her.

"Please follow me"

She rose and followed him out of the door. As he led them through the building, he began to describe the role and all it incorporasted.

"If you are offered the role, you will be required to attend a weekly training session and you will be expected to use one of your days off per week training and practicing at the firing range. It would also be beneficial for you to learn any new skills you can, though I would personally recommend a language and some basic computer hacking skills. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir" Amber replied, though her tone held a hint of confusion.

She didn't ask him any questions about it and mentally, that was another box ticked in her favour. At least she knew when to ask and when to keep her mouth shut, though he had a sneaking suspicion that once she knew him well enough, she would definitely be more mouthy. They finally halted outside a large metal door and when it was opened, Amber's eyes widened. In the centre stood a boxing ring, with various punch bags and training equipment scattered around. At the far end stood a small firing range and almost unconsciously, her hand twitched in readiness.

At the sound of the door closing behind them, somebody grasped her waist and she found herself being thrown. As her back slammed on the floor, she let out a gasp of air, but managed to roll away from the fist heading to her face. She quickly jumped to her feet and swept her leg out, catching the man attacking her in the stomach. He dropped and she punched him in the jaw, not hard enough to knock him out, but enough to stun him slightly. Altering her stance, she moved to plant a kick to the side of his head, cursing when her skirt halted her movement, allowing him to grab her leg, swinging her to the floor. She took a deep breath and allowed her body to completely relax, feeling him adjust with her until his crotch was directly above her knee. With a cry, she lifted her knee and he let out a yell of pain, rolling off her to clutch at his now bruised genitals. Amber swung up once more and, uncaring of her audience, pulled off her skirt, leaving her standing in just her pantihose and underwear. The guy on the floor began to rise, but she sent a roundhouse to his head, this time unrestricted, and smiled when her foot collided with his temple and sent him straight into unconsciousness. Panting heavily, she pushed her hair out of her face, before realising somebody was clapping behind her. She turned to face Church, who was the one clapping, a smug, yet satisfied smile on his face.

"Impressive, very impressive. Although, it is obvious you haven't done that for a while, so you will be required to get back into shape."

Amber pulled her skirt back on and gave him a weak smile. Church looked her up and down and nodded approvingly. He held out his hand and she took it, albeit with a confused expression.

"Welcome to my team, Miss Munroe. Do you have any questions?"

Amber almost couldn't think past the shock of being offered the job.

"Just one sir; why did I get this interview? I'm not military and I have no expertise in this field"

Church smiled. As he had guessed earlier, she knew when to speak and when to not speak.

"That is why I chose you. Anybody who may try to attack you for information you have access to, and believe me that is a very likely thing that will happen, will be very surprised when they do any checks on you to see nothing on record, yet face that when they attack"

He finished by pointing to the agent on the floor who was beginning to stir and Amber nodded, suddenly unable to contain her smile any longer. He gave a smirk of his own, glad that she was finally under his watch after spending years observing her and her mother. He knew she had the potential to be just what he needed, and he didn't want her to be recruited by anyone else. Now, he could relax.

….

_**6 months ago**_

As her alarm sounded, Amber groaned and dragged herself out of bed. Beside her, Kyle grumbled and cracked one eye open.

"Do you really have to be up so fucking early?" he growled out.

Amber rolled her eyes. Kyle wasn't a morning person to begin with; add alcohol and what she suspected was cannabis and he was even worse, even outright mean when he wanted. She leaned over and kissed the top of his head.

"Yes I do. I have training at 6."

He grumbled once more, shoving his head under his pillow and she had to suppress a chuckle. Ever since she'd started working for Church, she'd been waking at 5am, ready for her training session. She knew Church had hoped she'd put on more muscle, but it didn't matter what she did, she just stayed the same. Her mom had always been the same. No matter how much Marie Munroe had trained, she had always looked petite, but, as she'd always joked, it gave her the element of surprise when she beat guys twice her height to the ground.

It was as she jogged to work that morning that she realised something was wrong. Glancing behind her shoulder, she noticed another runner coming up behind her, his hood drawn up over his head, throwing his face into shadow. Altering her path, she dipped into an alleyway and when he followed, she knew she was about to be attacked. Stopping as if to catch her breathe, she waited until he was directly behind her, then kicked out, her foot dislocating his knee. He dropped with a cry and she moved over to him.

"Who sent you?" she spat.

He didn't respond, and when his eyes flicked briefly behind her, she knew why. She ducked as two gunshots rang out in the alley, one barely missing her arm. She took off at a run to escape, but as she exited the alley, she was grabbed at the waist and slammed against a wall, a muscular arm pressing tightly against her throat. She reached up to pull his arm away, but found herself backhanded by his free arm. Spots began to fade in her vision when she remembered the knife she kept in the back of her trousers. Moving her arm, she reached back and grasped the hilt, raising it and slamming it into the eye of the man that held her. The second he dropped her, she rolled and took off at a sprint. Church raised his head as she slammed into the office, panting heavily, her eyes wide in shock. He quickly stood and pushed her into a chair, shoving her head between her legs before she could pass out on him.

"What happened?" he demanded.

Through her pants, she managed to tell him and he called out to another member of the team to go to the site and get pictures of the men for identification. The younger man ran out of the room and Church turned back to Amber, seeing that she had stopped panting and seemed to be recovering herself. He moved over to the mini fridge in the corner of his office and pulled out a can of soda.

"Drink. It'll help the shock".

She nodded gratefully and began to drink, feeling her heart rate return to normal. The pair sat in silence until the young agent returned with photos and confirmation that then man she had stabbed was dead, her knife long enough to have pieced through his eyes into his brain. Church glanced at Amber to see she had once again gone very pale and had begun to shake.

"If you want to throw up, please do it in my trash can"

Seconds later, she did exactly that. Church wasn't a bastard, he understood her shock. He'd once killed his first person and his reaction had been very similar, although he had the misfortune of throwing up on his boss's shoes. Even if she had thrown up on the floor, he'd forgive her this time.

…..

_**Five Months Ago**_

Since that incident, Amber had started carrying a gun to work with her. Though there had never been a repeat of the incident and the man that sent out the hit on her was behind bars, she was still jumpy, especially when it came to that part of her route. She often asked herself exactly why she didn't just find a new route, but that tiny part of her that had accepted the job with Church and had actually felt a rush from the fight that day said that she was strong and she was more than skilled enough to protect herself. That was the only reason she continued on that route.

As she entered the building, she heard raised voices from Church's office and raised an eyebrow at one of the younger agents, who simply shrugged in response. Moments later, a large man stormed out of the office, muttering in what sounded to her like German. Church followed shortly after and motioned for her to come in. she sat in her usual spot and he smiled at her.

"Apologies about that. Trench is a mercenary I know and doesn't agree with his payment for the job I asked him to do."

Amber sniggered. She knew Church worked with two groups of mercenaries, though that was the first time she'd seen any of them. She turned to her work, when a cough from Church directed her attention back to her. He held a brown envelope in his hands.

"This is for you. It's the results from the paternity tests. I wanted to ensure they were correct before giving them to you but I will admit, I can definitely see the likeness between you and him. The envelope is sealed, so it's completely up to you if you want to look at them."

Amber took the envelope with a nod of thanks and stuffed it in to her desk. She'd waited 23 years to find out, it wouldn't kill her to wait a while longer.

….

_**Two Months Ago**_

"Happy Birthday babe!" Kyle shouted from the bedroom doorway.

Amber groaned and threw her pillow at him. It was the first lie in she'd given herself in months and he had to go and wake her up. It was even worse that she didn't want to celebrate this year, and he knew that full well. Kyle caught the pillow she threw and laughed. He slid into bed and pressed himself up against her, kissing her neck. Moaning, she sunk further in to the covers, turning to wrap herself in his embrace. Though she was annoyed at losing her lie in, she had to admit, it was a pretty nice way to spend her birthday.

….

_**Two weeks ago**_

It had been two years to the day since she lost her mom, and the pain was as raw now as it had been the day she received the call telling her that a Miss Marie Munroe had been admitted to hospital after being beaten and shot. Amber rushed to the hospital, but it was already too late. Marie was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it but scream and cry in Kyle's arms when he arrived.

Since then, Amber had built walls around her heart, refusing to peer behind them unless it was the anniversary of her mom's death. It only then that she allowed herself to cry, remembering how much she missed her mom. Marie would've been less than thrilled that Amber had opted out of college and even less thrilled by her chosen career, but Amber knew she would have been supportive nonetheless. That and she would have kicked Kyle's ass over his gambling that had steadily gotten worse to the point he had begun drinking and lost his job.

Amber felt her heart clench as she woke that morning, her eyes already burning with unshed tears. She wished she had booked the day off work, feeling too drained to face anybody, but she dragged herself out of bed anyway and found herself sitting at her desk an hour later, staring blankly at the wall in front of her. Church hadn't arrived yet, which in itself was a blessing, and she found herself opening the drawer and pulling out the envelope she had been given months ago that she hadn't looked at. She may have lost the most important person in her world, but she had a father out there somewhere and if he was still alive, maybe she could have a chance at having a parent in her life once more.

Taking a breath to steel herself, she ripped open the envelope and slid out the sheet of paper. The sheet was folded, with a photograph sitting in the middle. She turned the picture over in her hand and sucked in a breath at the site of a very tall, heavily built man in military combats, smiling at the camera with dark brown hair and eyes and a natural tan to his skin that she realised was identical to her own. Looking at his face, she could see what Church meant by the similarities; she did look a lot like him, minus her hair and eyes. She put the photo down and turned to the paper in front of her. She scanned over it, seeing that he was ex-military but was now known as a mercenary. At least that explained why Church had wanted to check if it was true, he more than likely knew the guy. The last thing she looked at was the name, almost afraid as it would make it all too real. Eventually, she let her eyes rest on the two words that would confirm who her father was.

Barney Ross.


	6. Capture

**_Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed getting to know Amber! Here's a bit more about our beloved heroine! This chapter and the next will be her side of the kidnapping. It's only my second time writing something like this, so I hope I do a good job of it!_**

_**...**_

_**Four Days Ago**_

Amber couldn't wait to get home. After eight hours of having her ass handed to her by her instructor, she grew fed up of being knocked on her ass and simply punched him in the face, successfully breaking his nose. Though his face was no longer flushed with blood, he gave her a wide grin.

"If you'd done that three hours ago, you could've been home already" he said as he tried to stop the bleeding.

With a frustrated scream, she stormed away, leaving him to clean the blood off the mats himself. As she walked home, she found herself relieved that she had the rest of the weekend free, and she'd planned two things; one, to get Kyle's butt hauled to rehab and two, to track down her father. She'd found his address and had been pleasantly surprised to see he lived in New Orleans, only a few miles away from her. The thought of seeing him terrified her as much as it excited her; she didn't even know if he knew she existed and was terrified of him rejecting her. However, she knew she had to try. She missed her mom so bad it physically hurt at times, and she'd do anything to have even a shred of sense of having a family once more.

Holding out hope that Kyle was sober and willing to talk to her about the rehab idea, she entered the apartment with a smile, but the sight that greeted her made the smile drop. Bloody smears streaked across the wall of the corridor, the tell-tale marks of arterial spray on the ceiling. Silently, she lowered her bag to the floor and pulled out her handgun, flipping the safety off. She followed the bloody trail to her bedroom, where she peered in and had to choke back a sob. Laying in the middle of the bed was Kyle, a pool of blood around him, his eyes glassy and vacant as they stared up at the ceiling. Tears blurred her vision and her hand loosened slightly on her gun as she fought not to scream. Suddenly, a mass slammed into her and she cried out as her head connected with the floor. Her gun was wrenched from her hand and before she had time to react, she was flipped on to her stomach, hands tied behind her back. She grit her teeth at the pain, but knew it was pointless trying to fight. The last thing she saw was the butt of a gun heading towards her temple before the world went blank.

_**Three days ago**_

She woke with a groan, her head throbbing, hands still tied behind her. She tried to move, only to find that the slightest motion made her head spin and she fought not to vomit. A chuckle sounded from behind her but she was in too much pain to turn and face whoever it was.

"Good morning Miss Munroe. I was getting worried my colleague had hit you too hard and you weren't going to wake up" a heavily accented voice spoke.

She cracked one eye open to see a tall skinny man standing in front of her. From his looks to his accent, she guessed he was either Spanish or Mexican, but she kept her mouth shut. He surveyed her for a few moments, as if trying to decide something, then nodded.

"I'll have one of my men bring you some aspirin and water for your head, then you and I are going to have a little chat"

He left the room and she let her head drop as the door shut, leaving her in pitch blackness. The fact it was so dark, yet he had said good morning told her that it must be before sunrise, meaning that if they were still in the states, she'd been out at least 9 hours, possibly more. The thought made her feel sick to her stomach; a lot can be done to someone in that time if they were unconscious. She was grateful that her clothes seemed to be intact and she breathed a sigh of relief.

The door reopened a while later and the man that came in was different to the previous one. Amber couldn't help but think this guy was built like a brick shit house and she knew that even if she didn't have a likely concussion, she wouldn't be able to ever beat him.

"No funny movements or you will be hurt, understand?" he growled at her, his voice deep and gravelly, sending a small shiver of fear down her spine.

She could only nod in response, not trusting her voice to work properly if she tried to speak and he cut her hands loose. She rubbed at her shoulders and took the glass he thrust at her.

"Drink" he ordered.

"You first" she croaked, the dryness of her throat telling her she'd been unconscious longer than 9 hours.

He looked as if he wanted to strike her, but instead growled and took the glass from her, drinking most of it as punishment for her refusal before handing it back to her. She took a small sip from the glass, her body crying out for the moisture. She forced herself not to gulp it down, knowing that it was better to take small sips when dehydrated than to overload. If she drank too much, she knew she'd probably just end up regurgitating it, and she didn't want to lose any more fluid. The man watched her sip then handed her two white pills. Despite the throbbing in her head, she refused them, which only served to anger him. This time, he struck out at her and she let out a whimper as his hand connected with the injured side of her head.

"Take the fucking tablets!" he roared.

All courage fading, she reached out with shaking hands and took the pills from him. She swallowed them both and he nodded, moving away from her to sit in the corner of the room. It didn't take long before she began to feel drowsy and knew that whatever her'd given her, it was definitely not aspirin.

…

She woke to find herself chained to a bed, unable to move. Panic instantly flooded her and she began thrashing around, desperate to escape.

"That won't work" came the voice of the first man she'd seen.

"You bastard" she spat, her voice hoarse, most likely an after effect of whatever drug they'd given her combined with dehydration.

He chuckled and moved over to her slowly, her cautious eyes never leaving him. He reached out and stroked down her face and neck, eventually caressing the gap between her breasts. Anger replaced any fear she had, and she let out a feral growl. He pulled his hand away, an amused smirk on his face.

"So, you do have some bite. I was beginning to worry you'd break too easily, but at least now I know we can have some fun with you. Relax my dear, I was raised to never harm or abuse women. My friend, on the other hand, really likes being in control. I believe you've already met?"

He nodded to the side and she followed his motion to see the burly guy from earlier standing against the wall, a dark glint in his eye that sent shivers up her spine. She remained silent, not wanting to antagonise either of them. She wasn't raised stupid; she knew how to pick her fights, and right now, fighting was a no-go.

"I've currently ordered him not to harm you, unless you try to escape or do anything to piss me off. Refusing the drink I offered you earlier pissed me off."

With a meaningful glance, he stepped back and the other guy stepped forward. She sucked in a breath and tensed her body, but it did little to soften the blow to her ribs from his fist. She cried out as pain blossomed across her side and both men smirked as he returned to his post.

"I think you're beginning to understand the situation you're in. now, from now on, you eat and drink anything given to you and you do as you are told, or Manny here will make sure you do it the next time. I would advise you don't push him too much, I only have a limited control over what he does to you."

As the pair left the room, she let the few tears she'd held back free. She'd never been in so much pain in her life, and she had no idea if she was even going to make it out alive.

_**Two Days Ago**_

They left her alone for hours and she began to try and formulate a plan to escape, only to realise that every plan she came up with was guaranteed to fail. Eventually, she decided to try and sleep despite the pain she was in, and was just drifting off when the door opened and Manny stepped in. The smell of food hit her nose and it was at that moment she realised how hungry she was. Wordlessly, Manny unchained her and roughly sat her up, earning a gasp from her as the pain in her side flared up once more. He shoved a bowl in front of her and she began to eat, not caring that they may have drugged it. The whole time, she kept her eyes on Manny, noticing that his own regularly swept over her body, darkening with desire each time. She wanted nothing more than to throw the hot food in his face, but knew it would only stop him monetarily. When she finished, he took the bowl from her before calling out to one of the guards.

"Tell the boss she's good to talk"

When the 'boss' walked in to the room, she sat up straighter, ignoring the stabbing pain in her rib, and she noticed he seemed pleased by her spirit. He sat down on the chair next to the bed and smiled warmly at her, but all she saw was evil.

"You're probably wondering why you're here."

"I can guess" she replied.

His smile deepened.

"Then please, do guess away."

She shook her head.

"I'm not going to play whatever game this is. Just tell me what you want from me" she replied.

His eyes darkened slightly and before her mind even computed the error she made, Manny's fist connected once more with her side and she screamed as the room echoed with the sound of something snapping.

"I do believe that was a rib. Now, tell my why you think you're here" he said, his voice calm.

Speaking through ragged breaths as she fought to keep conscious, she closed her eyes.

"Because I work for Church and you want information on him or on the CIA" she choked out.

He let out a small laugh and she shivered.

"Close, but how do you say it? Oh yes, close, but no dice. No, you're here as bait."

Her brows furrowed in confusion and she tilted her head, still gasping through the pain.

"For Church? I'm just his PA, easily replaced"

"Ah chica, no. Not him. You're bait for the man who killed my father, a man named Barney Ross. I believe you know of whom I am talking about?"

Her head shot up, her eyes as wide as a deer caught in headlights. That was the only answer he needed. Suddenly, his face lost all sense of pleasantness and he leaned forward, pressing his hand against her rib, making her cry out.

"When he arrives, I'm going to enjoy slitting your throat in front of him and will relish in his pain as he watches his only child die in front of him." He spat.

He released her and watched with disgust as tears began streaming silently down her face, the pain too much to bear.

"He doesn't know about me" she cried, pleading with him.

His lip curled and he snapped his fingers. Once again, Manny's fist hit her, only this time, he hit her other side. She let out another cry and slumped on to the bed, curling herself into a ball.

"I do not appreciate being lied to Miss Munroe. For that, I think I will leave you with Manny a while longer" He turned his attention to his partner. "You have an hour, but Manny, do not kill her."

Many gave an evil smile and nodded.

"Yes Sir"


	7. Torture

_**Hey again! As promised, this is the third chapter for this week to make up for my lack of updates! So, this continues from the last chapter and we will get to see her side of view for the great father-daughter face to face meeting! This is another long chapter, so I hope you like it!**_

_**Thank you to angel897 and pgb1 for your reviews, they mean so much to me!**_

_**...**_

_**24 hours Ago**_

The slightest movement made Amber want to scream in agony. She lay as still as she could, but every part of her body hurt, the drugs he'd injected in to her not enough to stem the aching throbs in her body. The second the door had shut, Manny had unleashed his strength on her and she lost track of how long he'd pummelled her until she begged him to stop, tears streaming down her face. A bang on the door had him releasing her with a savage grin on his face.

"Time's up. Until next time sweetheart" he murmured in her ear and left.

For hours she lay there, silent tears streaming down her face, every breath a fight against the pain. Gradually she managed to pushed herself into a sitting position, albeit with a lot of screaming and tears. Once her back was against the wall, she hunched herself up and only then did she fall into a restless sleep, waking at the slightest noise. When the 'boss' came in to see her, she didn't move, but he saw her eyes tracked his every movement. As usual, he sat on the chair next to the bed and saw her tense up in anticipation.

"You know, it's been almost three days already, I wander where your dad is."

Silence, but he saw her flinch at the word dad.

"I know he's coming. I have men state side who informed me that he was approached by your boss six hours ago, so it won't be long before he leaves America. I guess your little claim was false then, as he seemed mighty eager to come and get you."

Still no response, but he was too happy that he could finally get his revenge that he didn't let it bother him. Even if it did, he still wouldn't do anything about it. He hadn't lied when he said he only had limited control over Manny and he was well aware that if he gave his partner any more time with her, he would be likely to break her, and that, he could not do. Manny entered the room at that moment.

"Boss, we have word that Ross has left America with his team."

He clapped his hands together in joy, smirking when Amber jumped at the noise.

"Excellent. Let's get our plans in order, shall we?"

…

_**20 hours ago**_

The next time they came in, she was dragged off the bed and taken down the corridor into a room that instantly froze her skin. Shivering, she looked around and saw one of the panes in the window was broken, letting in all the air. Manny came in and placed a chair next to her. He grasped her arms and with help of a guard, he tugged her clothes off, despite her struggles and screams. Eventually, she stood there in only her bra and underwear, arms wrapped round herself as her exposed skin was attacked by the cold. Slowly, she sat in the chair, too tired to stand any longer. The boss walked in seconds after and nodded at Manny, who pulled her arms behind the chair, tying her to it. The boss stood in front of her and peered into her face. She wanted to glare, but managed to keep her expression neutral.

"Your father will be here in the next few hours. I want to know everything you know about him so I can prepare."

"All I know is that he's a mercenary and ex-army. That's it, I swear." She replied, her tone pleading with him to believe her.

He snapped his fingers and she gasped as ice cold water was thrown over her. At once, every muscle in her body contracted and she almost cried out at the agony searing through her from both the cold and her injuries.

"I'll be back in an hour and I expect to know more when I return" he threatened.

Amber let her head drop to her chest as violent shakes racked through her body. At that moment, she could've happily let them kill her, at least then the coldness she felt might subside. Trying to keep awake, she began to think of a plan. He wanted information about Barney Ross and though she knew nothing other than what she read in the file Church gave her, she could have a guess about his skills and could only try and guess what his moves would be.

…

_**18 hours ago**_

When the two men returned and asked her once more for information, she gave them the answer she knew they wanted, hoping she could make her voice sound enough as though she knew what she was talking about and fool them.

"He's primarily a rifleman, and a pretty lethal shot. He's likely to scope the building before attacking to find where I am being held. When he attacks, it'll likely be at night and he'll head to the room he knows me to be in. They'll probably leave the way they came in. He'll come loaded with explosives, he likes to make things flashy." She spoke through violent shivers.

Manny snorted.

"That's it? Nothing we couldn't figure out for ourselves!" he yelled.

He grasped the bucket next to him, about to douse her once more, but his boss stopped him.

"No. She did as asked and told us what she knew. We know Ross has landed, so let's take her back to her room so he can see her. In six hours, move her to the next floor up, so he has to go through the rest of the guards to get her."

Manny's lips curled and he motioned for one of the guards to help him drag her back to her room. She was so cold and numb, her injuries barely hurt any more and she could only let them drag her back to her room. Many dumped her on to the floor and she hissed as her knee and ankle twisted beneath her. The door shut once more and she dragged herself to the bed, curling up into the blankets, desperate to draw some warmth from them. She sank into a fitful rest, despite trying to stay awake.

…

_**12 hours ago**_

She was woken by two guards sauntering into her room, each grasping one of her arms and forcing her to her feet. They led her to the next floor up, dropping her in a room with no bed or windows, just one way in and out. They sneered down at her as she curled up, still shivering from the cold.

_**5 hours ago**_

She wasn't sure how long she had been lying there. All she knew was she had never been so cold in her life and somewhere along the line, her skin had begun to turn blue. As the light faded from the room, the two soldiers fro earlier entered and peered down at her.

"Aww look, she's cold" one mocked.

"Maybe we should help her warm up?" the other suggested.

"No" she whispered in protest as they moved closer to her. Weakly, she tried to push herself up and fight them, but her body had no strength left and they easily pinned her down. It was only when they forced her legs apart that a scream erupted from her, echoing through the hallways.

"Shut up you fucking bitch!" the one on top of her shouted, his fist connecting with her right eye. Hot liquid began to invade her vision and she knew that the hit had split the skin above her eye.

Something inside her snapped and she began to fight back. Raising her arm, she dug her nails into the face of the guard on her, his yell of pain filling the room as she dug her nail deep into his eye. He crawled back away from her and the second guard made his advance. Crawling, she looked for anything she could use as a weapon, oonly to come up empty handed. In a last ditch effort, she lay and let the guard grasp her roughly by her hips.

"I'm going to enjoy breaking you" he growled.

She waited for him to begin stripping his trousers and quickly grasped the knife in his belt, slicing his throat before he could register what was happening. Thick blood spurted out, but she managed to push him away before it hit her. The door slammed open to reveal Manny at that moment. He silently took in the scene of her on her feet, blade raised defensively, one man dead and the other clutching at his eye, before stepping forward and deflecting her attack. He sent her sprawling to the floor, the blade sliding across the room. At that moment, the room shook as an explosion erupted through the building and Amber stumbled to her knees. Manny curled his lip in anger and thrust a bundle of fabric at her.

"Put these on, it's almost showtime."

She pulled on the clothes as quickly as she could, suddenly more terrified than she had been so far. If it was showtime, it meant Barney had arrived, which in turn meant she was the closest to death she'd ever been. The moment her clothes were on, the boss walked in and nodded in approval. He moved over to her and she struggled against Manny, truly afraid of the man for the first time since she met him. As Manny held her, the boss tied her hands in front of her body then wrapped a piece of fabric tightly around her head, gagging her. He patted her face when he finished.

"Wouldn't want you screaming for daddy now, would we?" he mocked.

He then turned to Manny.

"Keep to the plan. Be on the roof in twenty minutes"

….

_**3 hours ago**_

Twenty minutes passed in slow agony for Amber. She could hear gunshots growing closer, then begin to fade as the group of mercenaries moved towards the roof. Manny yanked her forwards, towards the stairs to the roof and she tried to fight him off, unsuccessfully. As they reached the door to the roof, she caught the end of the conversation and her breath hitched.

"I believe the saying congratulations: it's a baby girl is in order?"

His fingers snapped and Manny forced her up on to the roof. She saw the look in the boss's eyes and her mind went blank to anything around her, focusing only on escape. With a wildness she'd never felt before, she struggled against Manny, but he continued forcing her forwards until eventually, he shoved her. She tried to stop the fall, but with her hands tied and her body so weak, she crumpled to the floor in front of the boss. She looked up from where she sat, registering for the first time that her father was standing in front of her. She skimmed her gaze over the first man who was too short and skinny to be him, then the second man who was too tall and skinny. Eventually her eyes settled on the man in the middle, his dark brown eyes connecting with her blue ones. She felt a surge of emotion rush through her; relief, fear, shock and most importantly to her, hope.

A hand ran through her hair at that moment and she tensed, screaming out as she was roughly dragged to her feet. She noticed that two of the men had their eyes on her, but the third one was glaring at the boss. As the boss's hand went round her waist, she felt the muzzle of a gun being pressed against her temple. She couldn't stop the tear that escaped her eyes, but she also couldn't help but notice the anger on Barney Ross's face, which once again gave her some hope. Suddenly, her mind formulated a plan and she made a signal with one of her hands, hoping one of the men in front of her would realise what she was doing. She watched as Barney's eyes glanced down and she felt like she could sing when she knew he'd caught on. As he nodded, she ducked slightly, forcing her elbow into the boss's stomach. She heard him grunt and grasped his wrist, using her whole weight to flip him over his shoulder, grateful that her instructor had drilled the move into her until she'd wanted to shoot him on principle. As the boss crashed to the floor, she pulled the gag away from her mouth and reached for the gun, pointing it at his head.

"Next time, tie the persons hands behind their back, dipshit." She growled out, squeezing the trigger.

…

_**2 hours ago**_

When his head exploded in front of her, spraying her face with blood and other matter she didn't want to think about, it took her a few seconds to realise that the shot hadn't come from her. She stood still for a few seconds before she realised how badly her hands were shaking. Dropping the gun, she moved away from the boss, the adrenaline leaving her body as swiftly as it arrived, making way for shock. She jumped as a hand touched her shoulder, even though she knew it was one of the men with Barney. She noticed the tender way he held her and aided her as she threw up, his kindness sending more tears down her face. She didn't fail to notice that Barney and the third guy stayed out of the way, busying themselves with the bodies, but whether that was a protocol they had or they were just avoiding her, she couldn't tell.

Her head began to swim with her thoughts and she vaguely registered Gunner say something to her when the world went black. She stirred awake a while later and realised someone was carrying her. From the grunt as he responded to something someone said, she realised it was Gunner. Seconds later, she felt a slight shift as a different pair of arms wrapped round her, drawing her into a firm chest. Instinctively, she knew it was Barney holding her now and as his warmth wrapped around her, she sank into him, finally allowing her mind to shut down. Despite anything else he may be feeling, she knew that he would keep her safe until they reached home turf.


	8. Waking Up

_Hey guys, sorry for the delay in updates, I've had a lot of assignments to do this past few weeks. Anyhoo, I'm back again!_

_Thank you to all who reviewed- it really makes my day whenever I see you review! _

_Enjoy the next instalment!_

_..._

Barney saw Church standing on the runway as they descended and was very tempted to 'accidentally' hit him with his plane as he landed. Instead, he manoeuvred so the plane's wings passed by the agent a mere few millimetres from his face. The second the wheels touched the ground and the plane halted to a stop, he was out of the plane, hurrying over to the other man with a look of death in his eyes. Lee watched their leader storm over to the agent and took a deep breath.

"Hoo boy, this ain't gonna be pretty" he muttered as he rushed out after the older man.

Church opened his mouth to speak as Barney approached him, only to have a large fist collide with his jaw, efficiently cutting off his words and sending him to the ground instead. He clutched his face and Barney glared at him, fingers itching to reach for his gun.

"You knew!?" he bellowed, not needing to elaborate further as he saw the realisation in Church's eyes.

Church looked up at him, the smug smile on his face replaced with the look of a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Barney barely gave him time to answer before he found himself facing the barrel of a gun. Luckily for him, Lee had caught up with them, Gunner watching from the back of the plane, relaxed but ready to step in if needed.

"Woah, woah! Easy!" Lee shouted as he took the gun from Barney.

Church stood slowly, brushing down his suit and flexing his jaw to make sure nothing was broken as the other man continued to glare at him. He waited until the gun was safely out of Barney's reach before he answered, his tone cautious.

"Yes I did. However, I did not tell you because I decided to let her call the shots."

"What do you mean by that?" Lee questioned, seeing that Barney was too angry to ask for himself.

"I mean that up until recently, she didn't know who her father was, so I ran a DNA test and gave her the results. You'll have to ask her how long ago she read them and found out."

Lee watched as Barney deflated slightly, although he could see the older man was still struggling not to lose it. A shout from Gunner drew their attention back to the plane.

"Guys! If you're done shouting and hitting, then do you think we can get this young woman to the hospital?"

At once, Barney and Church moved to the plane to see that Gunner was already carrying her in his arms once more. He brushed past them both and walked over to Barney's truck.

"My car is already running" Church called out.

"Yeah, but I don't know or trust you" Gunner replied, earning a smirk from Barney and a chuckle from Lee.

Church frowned at the Swede's back, but didn't protest as the three men piled in to the truck and took off down the asphalt. Instead, he climbed into his own car and followed closely behind them.

…

The first thing Amber was aware of as she regained consciousness was the various beeps and noises surrounding her. Then she became aware of the smell of disinfectant, signalling that she was in a hospital. She frowned, slowly opening her eyes, the light in the room dimmed enough that she wasn't blinded. The next thing she realised was how parched she felt. She tried to move, but a pain seared through her and she let out a small hiss of pain.

"Hey sleeping beauty"

She snapped her head to the left to see Gunner stretched out in a chair next to her, his feet propped up on the bed. She gave him a smile, surprised yet pleased to see him. She tried to speak, but her voice failed, her throat too dry. Gunner noticed and immediately stood from his post, grunting as something popped in his back. He reached behind her and handed her a glass of water with a straw inside it. Slowly, she sucked the liquid up, almost moaning in ecstasy as the coolness soothed her throat. Gunner watched as she drank, glancing over his shoulder in a hope to see Barney there. He'd stayed nearby from the moment she arrived in the hospital but had been forced to leave an hour ago when Church came barging in, demanding to see her. Gunner had opted to stay with her while their boss had a 'friendly' word with Church, and it was just his luck that she'd wake when he was alone with her. When she finally had her fill of drink, she passed him the glass and he placed it back on the side before returning to his post. As he sat back down, she tried to speak again, this time managing it successfully.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

There was no distrust or accusation to her tone, simply confusion.

"Well, Church came in wanting to try and force you to wake up and tell him what happened to you. Barney shoved him out and as far as I know, Lee is there as a mediator between the two, although I think he's just as likely to harm Church as your old man. I offered to stay and keep an eye on you."

She gave him a weak smile, cursing when her eyes began to water. At the panicked expression on his face, she giggled and wiped at her eyes.

"Sorry. I guess this whole thing has made me slightly emotional."

Gunner shrugged as he settled back into his chair, swinging his feet back up on the bed.

"Nah, it's okay. I'd be more surprised if you weren't emotional to be honest."

She let out a small laugh and glanced up at the window to see Barney standing there, watching her with an inscrutable expression. The smile on her face fell slightly, then fell completely as he turned and walked away. Gunner noticed the change in her demeanour and strode out after him, throwing a quick "I'll be back" over his shoulder in an attempt to reassure her. It didn't take long to catch up with Barney.

"So, you stay with her all this time only to walk away when she wakes up?" he asked.

Gunner saw him clench his fists.

"Don't push me right now Gunner" he warned.

Gunner snorted in anger.

"I'll push as hard as I can. You need to talk to her, and right now, I think she could do with a parental figure to talk to"

Barney turned on him so fast, he almost failed to block the fist swinging towards his face.

"I'm not a parental figure Gunner! Hell, I'm not anything to anyone!" he yelled.

Gunner looked down at him, his eyes flashing in anger.

"You really think that you're nothing to nobody? Because I'm pretty sure I know six guys who would argue that! Yeah, you're our boss and out leader, but you're also our friend!" Gunner yelled back.

The pair stood there staring each other down, until Barney finally dropped his gaze and unclenched his fist with a deep sigh.

"I guess you're right."

"I know I am. Now get your ass in there before she thinks you don't care."

….

Amber closed her eyes as Gunner left and turned her face away from the window, however she felt too drained both emotionally and physically to let any tears fall. Slowly, she felt her eyes slide shut and she began to drift off to sleep when there was a soft tap on the door.

"Come in" she called without turning, assuming it was Gunner.

It wasn't until she felt something brush her face that she opened her eyes again, surprise shining in them to see Barney standing next to her, brushing away the stray hair that had fallen across her face. He acknowledged her with a small, uncomfortable smile, but she was too stunned to respond. He cleared his throat, suddenly feeling awkward and jerked his thumb to the door.

"I can leave if you want?" he asked, turning to do just that.

Ignoring the pain, she reached and grasped his arm, halting his movements.

"No, don't!" she released him, gasping through the stabbing sensation in her ribs. "Please stay"

Barney softened and gently helped ease her back into a more comfortable position.

"Easy kid, I'll stay."

Once she was settled back down, her eyes slid shut and within seconds, he could tell she'd fallen asleep. Keeping to his word, Barney sank into the chair Gunner had sitting back and simply observing her as her chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. As he had done many times since bringing her in, he found himself studying her, amazed that she was really his. Even with the black and white evidence in front of him, he'd still been willing to deny that he was her father, but the more he looked at her, he couldn't deny she had a strong resemblance to him. Dye her hair dark and give her brown contacts and she would be his female equivalent. Being a parent had never really been something he'd thought about until now, but as he continued to watch her sleep, he began to think that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.

…

The next time Amber woke, it was to find Barney reading through her chart. He glanced up as she stirred and offered her a small, albeit nervous, smile, which she returned.

"You know that's technically illegal, right?" she said indicating to the file in his hand, a smile of amusement on her face.

He gave her a small smirk, placing the folder back on the nightstand.

"How long was I out?" she asked.

Barney glanced over at the clock.

"About two hours."

She nodded and reached behind her for the cup of water. Wordlessly, Barney stood and handed it to her before sitting back down.

"One last question for now- how long have I been here, in the hospital?"

Barney paused, not sure how to tell her, but in the end, he decided to just tell her the truth.

"It's been six days. You spent five of them unconscious and the last 24 hours you've slipped in and out. They said you had hypothermia which is why you were probably out so long but they also said you're lucky as you had a few fractures and a lot of bruising, but nothing too serious or life threatening. You should be okay to go home now you're awake."

"Oh" she replied, her voice barely a whisper.

Her mind turned to her apartment and the fact that the last time she was there, it was to find her boyfriend lying dead in their bed. Once more her eyes filled with tears, only Barney took a different approach to Gunner and when she tried to hide it, he moved to sit on the bed, cupping her chin and forcing her to look at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"Kyle" she whispered, that one word full of so much pain, he knew it must have been her boyfriend.

She finally let her tears fall and Barney wrapped his arms round her, pulling her into him as sobs wracked her body. He had no words of comfort, but at that moment, he just knew that he wanted to hold her, and instinct told him she needed to be held. When she finally pulled away, he wiped her eyes and she gave him a shaky smile.

"Sorry" she murmured.

"Nothing to be sorry for."

She almost sniggered. It was almost the same thing her mom would've told her. She was beginning to see why her mom fell for him all those years ago. Once again, he helped her get comfortable before taking his place in his chair, wanting to burn the dam thing. He was sure it had taken 10 years off the lifespan of his back. They sat in companionable silence, but they both knew that they should really talk at some point. Amber was the first to break.

"Did you know about me?" she asked, her voice so quiet, Barney almost didn't hear her.

"No" he replied.

She nodded, part of her relieved that at least he hadn't chosen not to know her. Still, she couldn't bring herself to ask her next question. Thankfully, Barney spoke next.

"How long have you known about me? Church said he gave you the DNA results a few months back"

"He did, but I didn't open them until two weeks ago. Wait, I've been here almost a week, so three weeks ago. The weekend that bastard took me, I'd planned on going to see you, but I had no idea how to tell you I was your daughter."

Barney snorted and she gave him a questioning look.

"Anything would have been better than the way I did find out, face to face with my gun pointing at a lunatic, wouldn't you agree?"

She couldn't help but laugh at that, even if she did end with a groan, clutching her side. Barney gave a concerned frown.

"Do you want me to get you some painkillers?" he asked.

She shook her head, terror hitting her like the ice cold water she'd been tortured with.

"No! No drugs, please!" she begged, panic trying to set in.

Barney nodded, his expression solemn as he reached and rubbed her arms to calm her down.

He understood the reasons for her fear, understood all too well. Shit, if he went through the torture she had, he'd probably never want to see a needle or drugs again either.

"Okay, you got it. It's gonna hurt like hell while you recover, but I got it."

Relaxing, she closed her eyes and sank back in to her pillow. She hadn't had a choice while she had been unconscious, but now she was awake, nobody would ever put an unknown substance in her body again. They fell into an easy silence, and Barney watched her again. He almost wished Perez was in front of him so he could tear him apart with his bare hands for what he did to her.

"You know he's dead right?" Amber spoke, breaking him abruptly from his thoughts.

He said nothing, only stared blankly at her until she nodded towards his hand. It was only then he realised just how tightly he was clenching his fist.

"How'd you know what I was thinking?" he asked her.

She let out a soft chuckle.

"Because I was thinking the exact same thing."

For what felt like the first time in years, Barney felt hip lips pull up into a genuinely heartfelt smile.

Amber spent the next few days in and out of sleep, but she was gradually spending more and more time awake. Barney could see that she was struggling to stay on top of the pain, even catching her one morning laying there with tear stained cheeks as she tried to push herself up to sit and take a drink. He wanted her to take something for the pain, but never pushed her. Gunner on the other hand, was more vocal about it, but every time it was suggested, she would refuse. It was her refusal for painkillers that led them to where they were now, Amber sitting in a wheelchair being pushed along by Gunner, Barney close behind with her bag slung over his shoulder, glaring at the doctor as he signed the paperwork to discharge her. They had mutually agreed that until she was more recovered, she would stay with Gunner. Barney had felt a slight reluctance as it meant he wouldn't be around her as often as he had been, but there were a number of reasons it was better for her to be with Gunner: she felt more comfortable with him (something Barney tried to not let bother him), he had the most medical experience out of them and most importantly to Barney, Church didn't know where the Swede lived. Ever since Barney had thrown him out of the hospital four days ago, the agent had stayed away, though he hadn't stopped trying to contact Amber. To give her some credit, she had sent a message with Lee one day, telling Church to 'fuck off and leave me alone until I am healed'. He could only imaging the glee on Christmas's face when he delivered that particular message and wished he'd been a fly on the wall to see the agent's response. Apparently, he wasn't too pleased, however he had gone quiet.

Amber sat silently as they made their way through the hospital, not quite believing what was happening. All she remembered was waking up to find a nurse injecting something in to her iv bag and her mind went blank after that. The next thing she was aware of, Barney was shouting at a doctor and Gunner was standing protectively over her, telling the nurse (who apparently had a broken nose thanks to her, Gunner proudly informed her) to back off. Ten minutes later, she was being bundled in the wheelchair, and Barney was signing the paperwork.

"You okay there?" Gunner asked her, startling her from her thoughts.

"Yeah, I just don't understand why you're all helping me is all"

Gunner smiled, having been waiting for that question for a while.

"None of us are particularly comfortable leaving a woman in a vulnerable state and right now, you need to be kept safe. The fact you're Barney's kid may or may not have a large part to play in it too" he finished with a wink.

She snorted in amusement and Barney looked up from the clipboard in front of him, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.


	9. A moment to breathe

_Hey folks! Once again, sorry for the delay, I'm trying to balance a thousand things at once and it's hard to find time to write! Thankfully I finish in May and it's summer after that so I will have loads more time to update!_

_Thank you for your patience- enjoy this next instalment!_

_..._

Once Amber was safely in Gunner's truck and heading to his home, Lee shadowing them on his bike, Barney decided to go for a ride to clear his head, unsurprised when he found himself drifting into Tool's shop an hour later. The tattooist looked up from the woman's leg he was currently inking, hazel eyes instantly picking up on the tension in the older man's face as he slid off the bike.

"Ah, darlin, would you mind going upstairs awhile? My hand is getting tired and I need to talk to my friend over there."

The woman gave him a sultry smile, leaving the room after kissing him and receiving a playful smack on her butt as she passed him. With one last teasing wiggle of her ass that made the tattooist moan, she exited the room and Tool turned his attention to Barney, who had dropped on one of the sofas, exhaustion evident on his face. Tool moved to his fridge and grabbed a couple of beers, handing one to Barney before dropping down onto one of the other sofas.

"Where have you been, brother? The others have been in here askin for you, but you've been AWOL since you got back. I was beginning to think you'd abandoned us."

Barney played with the bottle in his hands, not wanting to answer the question, but also knowing that one way or another, the others were going to eventually find out. Plus, if he couldn't trust Tool, who the hell could he trust?

"You remember me saying it was a rescue job?" he asked.

Tool nodded, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Oh god, did the target die?" he asked, knowing how hard the other man took it when things didn't go well on a job.

Barney shook his head and placed the bottle on the table in front of him, the contents untouched. This unnerved Tool more than anything as the older man never turned down a beer.

"So, if it didn't end in death, what happened?" he prodded.

Barney ran a calloused hand down his face; there was no way to sugar coat what he had to say.

"It turns out the woman was bait to lure me out by a guy whose father I killed a few years back."

As Barney himself had done, Tool's expression turned confused. Barney couldn't help but grudgingly admit that the only one who had worked it out, albeit as a joke, was Gunner. A small voice in the back of his head said that maybe he should listen to the Swede more often and just for once, he didn't brush it away.

"I don't get it." Tool commented.

"She's my kid, Tool. Even if I didn't want to believe it the DNA test doesn't lie."

Tool sat back, letting out a breath of surprise.

"Fuck, brother. I bet that's a shock."

Barney snorted, half in amusement, half in frustration.

"You can say that again."

They fell into an uneasy silence, Barney staring at the floor, Tool standing to reach out for his pipe. After taking a few well-needed breaths, he broke the silence.

"So, is that why you've been absent lately?"

Barney nodded.

"Yeah. She was hurt pretty bad and hospitalised. I couldn't just walk away and leave her, even if it would be easier all round if I did." he replied.

"I understand Barney, I really do. But what next?" Tool asked.

Barney saw the hidden concern in his friend's gaze and honestly had no idea how to respond. He settled for finally opening his previously abandoned beer, downing half the bottle in one large gulp. He placed the bottle back on the table with a shake of his head.

"I honestly have no fucking clue." He managed to growl out, rubbing at his head as the distinct thud of a headache began to pound his skull.

Tool sat back once more, his pipe back on his mouth as he chewed on the end of it. His brows drew together in thought.

"Wait, you said she was in hospital. Where is she now then?" he questioned, feeling concern for the young woman.

At this, Barney allowed himself a small smile, glad that there was a question he could actually answer.

"She's with Gunner. The guys who took her drugged her a few times and when she caught a nurse at the hospital putting something in her IV, she flipped out and broke the woman's nose. We had her discharged and Gunner offered to take her for a while as he has medical training and can help her more than I can."

Tool chuckled ans smirked at Barney's questioning glance.

"She's definitely your kid then, with an outburst like that."

Barney couldn't help but chuckle, though the moment was short lived as the knowledge once more sank in that he really was now a father. Tool sat back with his pipe, silently giving a thumbs up to Gunner, knowing that the Swede most likely volunteered to look after her to allow Barney time to think everything through.

"You sure he can be trusted with her? She is a female after all" Tool remark with a chuckle, trying to ease the tension in Barney's shoulders.

Barney knew he should laugh or smile, but instead, he frowned, his face becoming even more serious than before, sobering Tool immediately.

"Yes, I trust him. He's completely clean and hasn't once made a move on her since we rescued her." He ran his hands through his hair, a look that Tool thought was close to jealousy, on his face. "In fact, she's bonded with him as if he's the one that's her dad"

He lifted his beer to his lips once more, only to jump and choke on the mouthful, spraying beer across the room when a third voice joined them and made him jump.

"Maybe it's because he actually made an effort to get to know her instead of treating her like an IED and avoiding her."

Barney turned a glare to the space that had been empty but now had a solemn-faced Lee Christmas standing there. Tool raised an eyebrow, knowing the words would hit Barney hard and braced himself, ready to intervene if the expendables leader decided to turn aggressive. Barney slammed his bottle down and stood to face Lee.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" he demanded.

Lee stood his ground as the taller man advanced towards him, returning the glare that would have any sane person running for the hills, screaming the whole way.

"I mean what I said. When she shot Perez, it was Gunner that went over to see if she was okay. When she got to the plane, it was Gunner who stayed with her and held her the whole flight back and when she woke up, it was Gunner in her room. He's visited her the most and brought her flowers and chocolate when she was having a bad day and stayed up through the night a few times playing board games with her when the pain was so bad she couldn't sleep. Where were you?"

Barney felt himself deflate slightly, but Lee knew his anger was still there and stood still as he found himself being poked sharply in the chest.

"I was there! I was making sure that she was safe and Church would leave her alone! I was the one who she begged not to have any pain meds and I made sure the doctors didn't drug her! I'm the one who signed the god dam discharge papers!Dammit, I watched over her and protected her every single night while she slept!" he yelled back.

Lee huffed a breath, his face growing angrier.

"Yeah, you were there. While she was asleep. You did the stuff any one of us could've done while you were with her, but instead, you chose to do the things that meant you didn't have to speak to her, and guess who was the one who stayed behind each and every time to comfort her while you were off 'helping' her? If you had been there today after we settled her in at Gunners', you would've known that she found out that her boyfriend, who by the way was murdered in case you forgot, was buried already and his parents never told her because they blame her for it!"

THAT finally got Barney's attention and he took a step back as if he'd been punched in the gut. Lee nodded, seeing that his boss finally understood.

"Shit" Barney hissed, sinking back on to the sofa.

Tool, who had watched the exchange with concern, stood and clapped Barney's shoulder as Lee began to speak again.

"Look Barney, I know you were doing stuff that did help her, but honestly, I think she would have rather you be the one to hug her those times she cried, not just the one time. From what I understand, you're the only family she has. Also, the news that you are her father is almost as new to her as it is to you, so she herself hasn't had time to adjust to the idea yet. She's already sure that you won't want to be in her life and even though she's agreed to stay at Gunner's for now, she's already started making plans to move to a different state once she'd up and walking."

Barney's head snapped up once more and Lee saw that though there was surprise, there was also a glint of anger there, and something told the Brit he was only angry at himself for making her feel that way. As much as their boss tried to hide it, they were all aware he cared the most out of all of them about these kind of things. Tool clapped Barney's shoulder once more before taking a seat back on his sofa.

"Remember that woman I told you about a couple of years ago? The one I walked away from and left to jump to her death? Don't make that same mistake and let this woman go, especially when this time it's your own flesh and blood. Turn and help her; who knows, maybe she's the one that'll save your soul, you know?" The retired mercenary commented, his voice unusually solemn as his words hit home like a sledgehammer to the chest.

He sat back once more and drew out a pack of cards, waving them at Lee. The pair began to play as Barney sat with a look of contemplation on his face. Neither man acknowledged him as he rose with a look of finality, his bike roaring out of the shop seconds later.


End file.
